Buster Olney of ESPN reports the Cleveland Indians will be listening to trade offers for all of their veteran players. This includes high profile players like Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Yan Gomes and Edwin Encarnacion.
This news comes on the heels of the Indians not extending a qualifying offer to Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, and Michael Brantley.
The news of the Indians looking to trade off their top players is very interesting. The Indians are just two years removed from an American League pennant, and they were the only team in the AL Central to have a record over .500 this season. Judging from the rest of the division, if the Indians were to stand pat, it is likely they be the favorite win the division going away again.
That said, the Indians did see their attendance drop last season, and they were ranked 21st in attendance among Major League teams. This is one of the reasons why Forbes has ranked the Indians as one of the least valuable teams in the Major Leagues.
It should be noted with the Indians holding onto Jose Ramirez, and Francisco Lindor this does not appear to be a full rebuild, but rather a re-tooling of the roster with cheaper players.
Overall, it will be interesting to see what moves the Indians make this offseason and how those moves will change the balance of power in the different divisions in baseball.
